Chicken lost Feathers?

[miraclepooch]

Ok so my chicken is just a year old she is a partridge plymouth rock. All of a sudden i noticed that there where not any feathers on her breast bone. It is the beginning of september. Also i haven't been getting as many eggs as usual! Is she molting? What is happening? Please help?

 

[sourland]

Sounds as if she is molting. Can you see pin/blood feathers starting to appear?

 

[miraclepooch]

yes they look like the beginnings of a feather the part that is closest to the skin.

 

[sourland]

She'll look like a hedgehog for a while until the feathers 'mature'.

 

[miraclepooch]

ok thank you so much. Will the others do it to?

 

[sourland]

They may or may not. Some 'blow' all of their feathers at once and end up looking quite pathetic. Others lose a couple of feathers at a time and do not look as bad.

 

[FlosRdChicks]

Reading this post, I feel so relieved!

One of my 15 month old hens started losing all of her feathers a week ago. What a mess! Every tail feather, her belly, her head, all over. I thought she was attacked by something at first, but looking closely, there is no blood or anything. She definitely looks like a hedgehog!

She's bald and she seems uncomfortable too, when she tries to sit down. The weather has turned cold. I put her in a cage and brought her into the kitchen for the night just in case she isn't ok. So what happens when they blow all their feathers in cold weather?


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Springwater, Ontario

(We have 6 hens and an insulated coop)